Editing Clangers (section)

==Music and sound effects==
One of the most noted aspects was the use of [[sound effects]], with a score composed by [[Vernon Elliott]] under instructions from Postgate. Although the episodes were scripted, most of the music used in the two series was written in translation by Postgate in the form of "musical sketches" or graphs that he drew for Elliott, who converted the drawings into a musical score. The music was then recorded by the two, along with other musicians – dubbed the ''Clangers Ensemble'' – in a village hall, where they would often leave the windows open, leading to the sounds of birds outside being heard on some recordings. Much of the score was performed on Elliott's bassoon, and also included harp, clarinet, glockenspiel and bells.

The distinctive whistles made by the Clangers, performed on [[swanee whistle]]s, have become as identifiable as the characters themselves, much imitated by viewers. The series creators have said that the Clangers, living in [[vacuum]], did not communicate by sound, but rather by a type of [[nuclear magnetic resonance]], which was translated to audible whistles for the human audience. These whistles followed the rhythm and intonation of a script in English. The action was also narrated by a voice-over from Postgate. However, when the series was shown without narration to a group of overseas students, many of them felt that the Clangers were speaking their particular language.

Postgate recounted: "When the BBC got the script, [they] rang me up and said "At the beginning of episode three, where the doors get stuck, Major Clanger says 'sod it, the bloody thing’s stuck again'. Well, darling, you can't say that on children's television, you know, I mean you just can't". I said "It's not going to be said, it's going to be whistled", but [they] just said "But people will know!" I said no, that if they had nice minds, they'd think "Oh dear, the silly thing's not working properly". If you watch the episode, the one where the rocket goes up and shoots down the Iron Chicken, Major Clanger kicks the door to make it work and his first words are "Sod it, the bloody thing's stuck again". Years later, when the merchandising took off, the Golden Bear company wanted a Clanger and a Clanger phrase for it to make when you squeezed it, they got "Sod it, the bloody thing’s stuck again"!"<ref name="CliveBanks"/>

Series 1 episode, "The Visitor" features two brief extracts from the song, "No Smokes" (1967) by the Glasgow [[Psychedelic music|psychedelic]] band [[One in a Million (band)|One in a Million]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rossi |first1=Marco |title=A One In A Million chance |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=Dorset Echo |date=7 March 2008 |url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2100553.a-one-in-a-million-chance/}}</ref>

[[John Du Prez]], who wrote some of the music for ''Monty Python'' (another show Michael Palin was in) composed the score for the 2015 series.<ref>{{cite news|last=Waters |first=Florence |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/11643023/Return-of-The-Clangers.html |title=Return of The Clangers |newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=18 September 2016}}</ref>